Once again I just realized that I'm taking things into my own hands and trying to work them out to please God, when what I NEED to do is take them to God in the first place and let Him tell me what he wants. This is the second reminder in two days! Why am I so thick-headed?
Yesterday I attended a Homeless Coalition meeting with my friend Sharon who will be on the board of my non-profit. She's also been my friend and accountability partner for a while now. Yesterday she held me accountable! Again! We were riding home from the meeting, excited and pumped up and I was talking about the future, specifically how I might be able to transition from my current job to being full-time with the non-profit. I was talking about timing and surgery and babies and work-loads, etc...
and she said..."Sounds like you're trying to be in control."
and I said, "No, I'm just trying to figure out the timing." OK, really?
Yes I actually said that, and it was yet another example of why we should all talk out loud to ourselves. Some things sound so much better running around in my head. It's not at all the same when I speak it! Please, can I get a witness?
Now fast forward a little and I'm thinking about the whole social networking thing, specifically Face Book and Twitter, which I have been studiously avoiding. Blogging and getting involved with on-line writers groups has already taken me far past my comfort zone with this, and it can be overwhelming at times. Do you know how many blogs are out there? How many on-line things? I've been feeling out of balance with this lately, and although I keep being told that a strong on-line presence is necessary for promoting a non-profit ministry and for a writer, I'm not sure I'm managing it well. Perhaps because I keep seeing it as the enemy in some ways and not my friend.
I have also not given it back to God. It's something that I've always viewed kind of negatively, but now I'm joining in. That's a little skewed - like trying to be a good manager of a bad habit: i.e. "I'm going to be the best darn smoker at my job!" Again, really?
So how do I fix this? Well as I was thinking about things this morning, I realized that they are many things that I have not taken before God. Yes, I believe that he is leading me in this venture and that he has plans to reach people through it.Yes, I have dedicated it as a whole to him and have tried to keep it covered with prayer. Now that things are progressing there are more specific things that need to go on the prayer list, and the whole social networking thing is one of them.
Instead of viewing it as a necessary evil, I need to thank God for it and ask him to help me use it wisely. It is like many other things in life, basically neutral - neither good nor bad. How we use them makes the difference. If this is a tool I will be using to reach people and grow this ministry, how could I not dedicate it to him and ask for his blessing? I will surely make a mess of this if left to my own devices, but scripture promises that God will take whatever I have and use it to his glory, if I will take my hands off.
So today, all that changes. I will first dedicate this social networking activity to God. I will ask him to guide me as I write - even small twitter things (tweets?) - and learn terminology :) I will ask him to draw people to my sites that need to be there, and to draw me to the sites that I need to see. I will ask him to use it and me for his glory.
I will recite the memory verse from Proverbs daily as a reminder. What a promise there is in that verse! I want that for my life, every day.
I will also thank God today for once again taking the chaos that is my life and brain, and focusing it first on him, and then on the task he has for me. His plans and timing are always perfect, and as I wait for direction on this new venture I will pray for him to help me be faithful and fruitful where he has placed me for today.
God's way is not always easy, but it is always simple. I complicate it when I start trying to manage things on my own. Aren't you glad that all it takes to get back on track is a heart that turns again back to God? I can do that right now.
How about you? What is it in your life that you tend to subtly take back, even without realizing it? How do you get back on track with God?
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